


Waking Up

by murksiuke



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Fix-It, Gen, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Murder Husbands, One Shot that May or May not be expanded, Reunions, Time Travel, Will Graham is Full of Regrets, but he will be ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-18 13:24:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10617789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murksiuke/pseuds/murksiuke
Summary: Will Graham went to sleep as a bitter old man.He woke up as a bitter younger man.Or: Time travel fix-it, Hannibal edition.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [We Killed a Dragon Last Night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9210245) by [inameitlater](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inameitlater/pseuds/inameitlater). 



> Warnings: mentions of past death of a character. But its time travel, does it even count?
> 
> So i wrote this thing, that i might continue one day, but i will be busy for the next 3-4 months, so i thought it would be best to make it work as a stand-alone. and i think it does. I really hope it makes sense and that you like it, but if not, please tell me anyways!
> 
> I will be honest, Hannibal (TV) is way out of my league. I mean its one of my favorite shows ever, and i feel like Hannibal would kill me for daring to write this.  
> But then i though, "What a glorious way to die", so here I am, posting this.  
> Disclaimer: i do not own Hannibal; nor do i make money out of this. Hannibal rights and ownership belong to the shows and books respective owners. Any quotes taken from the show belong to the shows owners, i claim no ownership of them.

 

Will Graham didn’t have much.

He had a pack of old dogs that was slowly dwindling down in numbers.

He had an old house that was falling apart.

He had an ex-wife that he traded in for a serial killer.

And he had a serial killer that he had killed, all those years ago.

(Truthfully, he had many of those, but only one that truly mattered.)

The one thing he had in spades where regrets, and he would gladly do without them.

 

* * *

 

 

As any other bitter old man, every time Will closed his eyes, he was plagued by nightmares and what-could-have-been’s . His dreams where never kind, but at this point, the only thing he feared more than sleeping was walking up in the morning.

And yet here he was, bracing himself for another restless night.

Will settled in his bed, surrounded by what was left of his pack, and sighed. There was no way around it- he hasn’t slept in two days, and at his age, it was impossible to last any longer.

He closed his eyes, and willed himself to sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

And he woke up.

Will opened his eyes and immediately swayed. (Why was he standing?)

He braced himself on the desk (Desk?), and took in his surroundings.

A lecture hall. A big, -thankfully- empty lecture hall, just like… Just like the one he used to teach in, back in Quantico. In fact, Will was pretty sure it was one of the rooms he had delivered a lecture in before.

Did he sleepwalk here?

But no, he hasn’t sleepwalked since… Since his encephalitis got treated. And, more importantly, the FBI academy in Quantico has long closed down, and the building he was currently standing in was supposed to be razed to the ground decades ago.

A dream then?

His mind was known to play tricks on him, often cruel and worryingly realistic, so surely it was the case.

Will sighed, it wasn’t the first time he dreamt of the past, and likely, it wouldn’t be the last time either. Best to accept it, and hope it would end soon.

“Mr. Graham.”

And there he was, the first ghost of the past to come to haunt him.

Though. Something wasn’t right. But what was it?

“Special Agent Jack Crawford. I head the Behavioural science unit.” Jack trust his arm toward him, clearly expecting a handshake. Will indulged him.

Think, Will. What’s different?

There were no students. First time he met Jack, the lecture hall was still brimming with students, all making noise as they quickly left. Now, it was quiet, with only him and Jack in the room.

Jack.

“We met.”

“Yes…” Will tuned out Jacks words, already knowing his little speech about the museum.

The students were not important, they never where. What did a five second delay mean in a dream?

What else is different?

“I disagreed with what you named it.” It was easy to answer Jack at the correct time, especially since he already knew what to say.

Jack.

“It’s a little hammy, Jack.”

Jack looked just as he had when they first met, no surprise there.

“Well I’m just talking to them. I’m not listening to them.” Or you. “It’s not social.”

“I see… May I?” Jack raised his arm, intent on fixing his glasses.

His eyes. There was something off about them. Will stared at him and gave his answers to Jack automatically, and things started to click together.

There was no anger in his ghost’s eyes. No disappointment, either. No pity, no shame, just curiosity and greed – the same two emotions that were there in the very beginning.

The curiosity was gone after a few cases together. The greed, however, stayed there until the very end.

It was unsettling. In his dreams, Jack always looked at him with negative emotions. Never, in his long life, has he dreamt of something like this- pure memories, unclouded by the knowledge of the future.

Will didn’t even remember that Jack could look like this.

“Then help me find some evidence.” Where they already at this part?

Will made a split second decision.

“Sorry Jack. You will simply have to make do without me.”

“You could save lives, Will.” A deviation? Point one to Will.

“But at what cost?” Will turned around and walked out.

He had more important things to do than saving some girls.

But why were there no students when Jack walked in?

 

* * *

 

 

Please pick up, please pick up, please….

“Doctor Hannibal Lecter speaking.”

Will knees buckled.

It was Hannibal’s voice.

It has been so long since the last time he heard it. He had tried to keep it with him, in his memories, along with Hannibal’s mind and the taste of his food, but he realized now, just how badly he had failed. He realized now, how badly the memory of Hannibal’s voice became distorted and _wrong_ in time, how it couldn’t stand a chance against the original.

This couldn’t be a dream. Will wouldn’t stand for it.

“…May I ask who is calling?” Will took too long to answer. Now Hannibal sounded disgruntled, forced to deal with someone _rude._

“My apologies. This is Will Graham…I was wondering if I could set up an appointment?”

He didn’t want to do this.  He didn’t want to meet his… His Hannibal in an appointment, with the roles of “doctor and patient” forced upon them, but he didn’t have a choice anymore.

Will could have been smart about this. He could’ve gone along with Jack until he met with Hannibal. He could’ve waited until the next Ripper’s kill to “stumble upon” Hannibal in action. Hell, he could’ve gone to the opera.

But he didn’t. He couldn’t wait that long to meet Hannibal, and now, he will have to start their relationship from a difficult position.

No matter, Will could deal with this. He had the advantage of knowing how to make Hannibal fascinated with him. It shouldn’t be too hard to steer their appointments into a more personal setting, and eventually – to lose the doctor-patient relationship altogether.

He will have to be patient, but it didn’t matter as long as he could see Hannibal again. After all, he was a mongoose, he could wait until the snake slithered by.

“…Will?” Will blinked. Did he take too long to answer again?

“Yes, sorry, it seemed I… zoned out again. Could you repeat that again?” Better to try to be polite, he wanted Hannibal to like him this time.

“Will, …Do you remember what we did last night?” Last night? Will was pretty sure they haven’t met before the meeting in Jack’s office, which hasn’t even happen yet.

“Perhaps you could freshen up my memory, Dr. Lecter?” Will wasn’t sure what he expected to hear for an answer, but it wasn’t what came through the phone.

“We killed a dragon last night, Will.”

They did, didn’t they.

On their last night together, the last night that Will truly lived, they killed a dragon together and Will plunged them into the deep waters below.

Will resurfaced next morning.

Hannibal did not.

And that could only mean one thing.

“I missed you, Hannibal.” Choked out Will.

“And I, you, my Will.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> And thats it!  
> I really hope you liked it, cant wait to hear your thoughts!  
> Tbh, im really worried about posting this, so if it sucks, tell me right away?  
> The dialog between Jack and Will is taken directly from Hannibal S01E01, and belong to the shows owners, not to me.  
> The line "We killed a dragon last night" is heavily inspired by the fic "We Killed a Dragon Last Night" by inameitlater. You can find it here on Ao3, so go ahead and give it a try, its brill! (just keep in mind it ends in an interesting place)


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